DOJ investigates 2 California women’s prisons over claims of sexual abuse by officers
Two California prisons are now under federal investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday, to determine if correctional staff have sexually abused incarcerated women.
The investigation comes years after lawyers filed hundreds of lawsuits on behalf of current and former incarcerated women against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation alleging the department continuously failed to protect female inmates from sexual abuse and assault.
The private lawsuits alleged that officers at the Central California Women’s facility, the largest state prison for females, have inappropriately groped and forcibly raped inmates. Federal authorities will also investigate prison conditions at the California Institution for Women, a facility in Chino.
Kyle Gaines, an attorney with the law firm Slater Slater Schulman who is representing the hundreds of women, said officers abused their positions of power to take advantage of the vulnerable women. He welcomed Wednesday’s news of a federal investigation.
“Their time in prison became a sentence of sexual abuse,” Gaines told The Sacramento Bee.
CDCR Secretary Jeff Macomber said in a statement that the department welcomes the DOJ’s independent investigation.
“Sexual assault is a heinous violation of fundamental human dignity that is not tolerated — under any circumstances — within California’s state prison system,” Macomber said.
The lawsuits named dozens of CDCR employees who allegedly participated in and committed the abuse. Exhibits included with the complaints detail graphic sexual abuse women allegedly suffered by those named defendants. The abuse included groping, sexual favors in return for privileges and forcible rape. The exhibits claim to document abuse stretching back decades.
The Justice Department’s announcement noted that corrections officers named in the allegations including the CDCR employees who are responsible for handling sexual assault claims.
“Every woman, including those in prison, retains basic civil and constitutional rights and should be treated with dignity and respect. California must ensure that the people it incarcerates are housed in conditions that protect them from sexual abuse,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement Wednesday. “This investigation will determine whether California is meeting its constitutional obligations.”
Last year, six former inmates at the Central California Women’s Facility, in Chowchilla, who alleged a former guard sexually assaulted them settled their lawsuits for $3.7 million.
Gaines was hopeful that the Justice Department’s investigation would bring more attention and accountability to state prisons.
“It’s a vicious cycle that’s been protecting individuals for decades,” Gaines said.
This story was originally published September 4, 2024 at 4:53 PM with the headline "DOJ investigates 2 California women’s prisons over claims of sexual abuse by officers."
